all games are not created equal

Both games started off a new franchise.  Both games also used the controller in innovative ways.  However, I just gotta give it to the very addictive gameplay that THPS had from the beginning.  Skate is a pretty sweet game, but it can get pretty dang tedious when all you're trying to do is a kickflip into a grind and kickflip out of it.

Skate takes the ultra-realistic approach while THPS definitely goes the opposite way.  THPS plays more like an arcade skating game where as Skate is more of a skating simluation.  Skate is cool to play and is decently rewarding when you actually finally pull off the trick you wanted, but THPS just made you feel like you were the man.  Like when you did that special trick over the pipe, through the room over the top into a grind on that one rail, then a kickflip into a special grind all the way around the ramp.  That was pretty sweet.

While Tony Hawk games used to be the epitome of skating games, but when skate entered the gaming world, everything changed. Skate brought the ideas of not button mashing to get points but flicking the joystick in interesting directions. It brought a sense of purpose to each trick, a 180 meant moving the joystick from south to north along the side, not triangle in the air. Skate also brought the hall of meat. Where as most games you don't want to crash, in hom it is a race to see who can get hurt the most. It is a lot like the mode in Burnout Take Down to rack up damage.